Crash 2004

Over a thirtysix hour period in Los Angeles a handful of disparate peoples lives intertwine as they deal with the tense race relations that belie life in the city. Among the players are the Caucasian district attorney who uses race as a political card his Caucasian wife who having recently been carjacked by two black men believes that her stereotypical views of nonwhites is justified and cannot be considered racism the two black carjackers who use their race both to their advantage and as an excuse partnered Caucasian police constables one who is a racist and uses his authority to harass nonwhites and the other who hates his partner because of those racist views but who may have the same underlying values in his subconscious a black film director and his black wife who believes her husband doesnt support their black background enough especially in light of an incident with the racist white cop partnered police detectives and sometimes lovers one Hispanic female ...

Review

Like Altmans classic Short Cuts and Andersons Magnolia Crash by writerdirector Paul Haggis weaves a tale of multiple characters through the web of streets we have come to know as Los Angeles. Unlike those other two films this one has a very specific theme to explore. From the opening line uttered by Don Cheadle we know this is to be a film about how people relate and from the interchange that follows between Jennifer Esposito and Alexis Rhee (pretty sure she plays the Korean female driver who rearended her) how people relate tends to be ruled by first impressions or prejudice.

Race is paramount in this film and all our preconceptions of who people are get twisted and turned through the intricate plot. With each new additional character we find another assumption another stereotype and then watch as that preconception is obliterated as the character develops. It is a credit to the deftly written script tight direction and exceptional acting talent that every one of these many characters is fully realized on screen without ever feeling onedimensional.

I would love to discuss some of the details of what happens to explain how well it is done but part of the magic of this film is allowing yourself to be taken on this ride. Mind you this isnt a ride of pleasure. The first half of this film is unrelentingly in its ferociousness. I could literally feel my rage at some of the characters forming to a fever pitch. The fear and hatred I was confronting wasnt just on the screen but in the pit of my stomach. And in one absolutely brilliant moment I was literally sobbing at the expectation of horror unfolding only to be cathartically released in a most unexpected way.

Mr. Haggis was in attendance at the screening I saw and explained that the idea for this film came to him one night sometime after 911 at about 2a.m. when his own memories of a car jacking experience from 10 years before wouldnt leave him alone. Clearly this film was his way of relieving those demons of memory using the catharsis of his art to unleash them and in doing so has given to all viewers of cinema an opportunity to examine our own preconceptions about race relations and how we treat each other and think of ourselves. He mentioned in the discussion afterwards that he likes to make films that force people to confront difficult issues. Films that ask people to think after the film has ended and not just leave saying "that was a nice film".

This isnt a "nice" film and I would expect that it will provoke many a discussion in the ensuing weeks when it opens nationwide. Its a discussion long overdue for this country and it took a Canadian to bring the issue to the fore in this brilliant thought provoking film.